Your Secondary Brain

Scientists have known for a long time that your secondary brain is in your gut. This is the origin of the “gut feeling” that we sometimes get when we are about to do something or make an important decision.

“The neurons in the gut are so innumerable that many scientists are now calling the totality of them ‘the second brain.’ Not only is this second brain regulating muscles, immune cells, and hormones, but it’s also manufacturing something really important. Popular antidepressants like Paxil, Zoloft, and Lexapro increase the availability of the ‘feel-good’ chemical serotonin in the brain. You may be surprised to find out that an estimated 80 to 90 percent of the amount of serotonin in your body is manufactured by the nerve cells in your gut! In fact, your gut’s brain makes more serotonin—the master happiness molecule—than the brain in your head does. Many neurologists and psychiatrists are now realizing that this may be one reasons why antidepressants are often less effective in treating depression than dietary changes are. In fact, recent research is revealing that our second brain may not be ‘second’ at all. It can act independently from the main brain and control many functions without the brain’s input or help.”